Tumbling machine



Apr *'14, 1936.v B. LINDBERG TUMBLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Shee't 1 Filed May 14, 1934 April 14, 1936. B LlNDBERG 2,037,246

TUMBLING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1954 l 5 sheets-sheet 24 April 14, 193e. B, UNDBERG 2,037,246

\ TUMBL'ING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1954 5 Sheets--SheecI 3 pr I 14, i936. zB. LINDBERG TUMBLING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 jxof/ l ff W ff j l Wig M, 196. B. LINDBERG TUMBLING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT orifice 10 Claims.

When laundry is dried in extractors, whereby a large part of the moisture is removed, the laundry is compacted and usually twisted so that, before the laundry can be ironed, the. solid masses into which it has been formed must be separated into the individual pieces of which it is composed and these pieces must be shaken out and straightened. Furthermore, in the process of extracting the moisture, mechanically, the laundry becomes lled with numerous sharp creases which require care and effort for their removal. For example, when a householder receives from the laundry a bundleof so-called wet wash, the bundle consists of a compacted, twisted mass of pieces. And, after the pieces have been separated from each other, the householder must usually shake each piece out as well as she rcan and then hang them up to permit the creases to fade out more or less. When the individual pieces are finally ironed there usually remain enough creases that make the ironing operation more difficult than it should be. j

The object of the present invention is to produce a simple and novel machine which will break up a compact bundle of laundry that has been partially dehydrated in an extractor and transform it into a loose fluffy mass.

I have found that in the operation of fluffing up a mass of laundry the creases to which I have heretofore referred largely disappear. Therefore, viewed in one of its aspects, the present invention may be said to. have for its object the substantial elimination of the sharp creases or wrinkles that are produced in a piece of laundry that is partially dried in an extracto-r.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,

for a full understanding of my invention'and of Fig. 3 is a section taken on the irregular line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical section, on a larger scale, through one of the drums, only fragments of the drum being shown, and the drum containing a mass of laundry that is being tumbled; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the drum after it has turned through an angle of -from the position illustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing only a small fragment of the machine, and the apron or movable partition being shown' rolled up or retracted whereas in Fig. 5 it is unrolled or extended; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the link of one of the sprocket chains to which the advance end of the apron is fastened; Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig. 10; and Figs. 9 and 10 are sections taken, respectively, on lines 9?-9 and Ill- I0 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, I and 2 are two short horizontal drums or cylinders which may be similar toy the cylinders commonly employed for washing purposes. These drums are placed end to end in a suitable rigid framework having vertical end members 3, 3 and an intermediate vertical member II. Each drum has at its ends trunnions 5, 5 journalled in the corresponding frame members 3 and 4; the journals at the ends of the machine as a whole extending through the end frame members and having thereon large driven pulleys 6, 6. The pulleys B are driven by suitable belts I extending around the same and around small pulleys 8 at the top and toward the rear of the machine.' The two pulleys 8 are adapted to be driven from a main shaft 9 coaxial therewith and extending across the top of the machine. The shaft 9 is adapted to be driven alternately by two belts I0 and I2, (best seen in Fig. 2), one of which is crossed; whereby the shaft is turned first in one direction and then in the other. The belts I I) and I2 are associated with idle belt pulleys I3 and I4 and a driving pulley I5, all onthe shaft 9, and are alternately shifted from their idle pulleys to the driving pulley I5 by a suitable belt-shifting apparatus I6 which, of itself, forms no part of the present invention.

Each of the belt pulleys 8 is Xed to a clutch permitting either drum to be driven at will from the main shaft. In order that each drum may be positively stopped in any desired angular position, each of the brake drums is shown as being surrounded by a brake band I9 which may be tightened or loosened thereon at will. Obviously, the details of the braking means are no part of the present invention.

What may be said to constitute one of the features of my invention is the manner in which the clutches and the brakes are controlled so as to permit either of the tumbler drums to rotate while the other is standing still, or both to rotate or stand idle. The elements which the operator manipulates in order to control the movements of the drum are two handles 2, 20 at the front of the machine. As best shown in Fig. 3, each of these handles is pivoted at its lower end, as indicated at 22, to a lug rising from the intermediate vertical frame member 4. Associated with each handle is a segment 23 by which the handle may be held in any one of three positions. In one position of each handle the clutch for the corresponding drum is in and the brake is released. In the second position, both the clutch and the brake are idle. In the third position of the handle the clutch is out and the brake is on. The brakes and the clutches are actuated through connecting rods 24 extending, from the handles 20 toward the rear of the machine. The means for actuating the clutches and the brakes are duplicates of each other and only one of the same need therefore be described. Beginning with one of the connecting rods 24, it will be seen that the rear end thereof is secured to an upstanding arm 25 on a rock shaft 26 paralleling the main shaft 9. On the rock shaft, Vin the vicinity of the corresponding clutch, is a second radial arm 2l between the outer end of which and the lever 28for actuating the brake band is a connecting link 29. Obviously, as the corresponding controlling handle 2 is swung back and forth the brake will be alternately applied and released. The parts may readily be so proportioned that the brake will be on while the handle is in one of its positions and be off while the handle is in the other two positions. The rod 24 acts on a suitable clutch-shifting lever 30 through a suitable bell crank lever 32 between the free end of one arm of which and the free end of the lever 3D is a connecting rod 33. The other arm of the bell crank lever has therein aslot 34 extending longitudinally thereof and the rod 24 is provided with a pin 35 that extends into this slot. Consequently, as the controlling handle is moved back and forth, the bell crank lever will be oscillated and the clutch will be thrown alternately in and out. Here, again, the parts are so proportioned that the clutch is out in two of the positions of the controlling handle and is in only in the remaining position. The purpose of having the three positions will probably be evident: the drum being driven in one position and being held fast by its brake in a second position; whereas, in the third or neutral position, it is neither being held fast nor driven and can therefore be shifted angularly by hand if desired.

Each of the drums I and 2 is provided with a door 36 inthe side thereof, a single door opening being sufficient in machines of this kind. The drums must be stopped with their doors toward the front at the time they are to be emptied or recharged. Also, as will hereinafter appear, I desire at times to bring the drums at rest with the doors at the rear. It is diicult to judge from watching the turning cylinder just when the controller should be operated to stop the drum with the door properly located on the front side, and it is much more difficult to stop the machine with the door at the rear. In order to make it simple and easy to stop the machine in its proper position, whether the door be toward the front or toward the rear, I have provided an indicator which enables the operator at all times to see just what angular position either drum is occupying. In the arrangement shown, the indicator is simply a vertical plate 31 supported on a suitable bracket 38 rising from the top of the vertical frame member 4; there being two revolving hands or pointers 39 mounted on the plate. Each of the hands or pointers 39 is driven from the corresponding drum by a suitable sprocket chain 40, or other driving means, so as to cause each hand or pointer to rotate in unison with and .at the same angular speed as its drum. It will be seen that, if a hand or pointer is made to point directly upward when the door of its cylinder is in front, it will point directly down when the door is at the rear. Since the pointers are small their movements appear slow and the operator can easily see when a pointer is about to point straight up or straight down and thus be able to move the controlling handle at exactly the right time.

If desired, means may be provided to receive the contents of a drum as they are removed through the door thereof. In the arrangement shown, the front lower horizontal frame member 42 may constitute a rail, and there may be a similar rail 43 above and parallel with the rail 42. There may be mounted on these rails a box-like receptacle 44 adapted tobe moved along the rails into position in front of either drum. In the arrangement shown, as will best be seen in Fig. 3, the inner end of the receptacle 44 rests on the rail 43 and is provided with a part 45 extending down behind and in contact with the rail. There is also provided an inclined strut or leg element 4B, the lower end of which rests on the rail 42 and is slidable along the same, while the upper end is -flxed to the bottom of the receptacle at a considerable distance from the inner end of the latter.

One of the principal features of my invention resides in the means for making it possible to remove the contents of a drum Without having to reach down into the bottom of the latter. To this end I have provided each drum with an adjustable partition in the form of a flexible apron which may be wound up and housed in a casing at one side of the drum or be unwound and stretched diametrically across the drum and thus divide the interior of the drum into two compartments each extending throughout the entire length of the drum. Normally, While the drums are being turned to tumble the laundry, the partition or apron is in its retracted position and, when it is desired to remove the laundry from the drum, the drum is stopped with the door at the back and the partition or apron is manipulated to stretch it across the interior of the drum. The drum is then turned through half a revolution, bringing the door to the front and causing the laundry, which previously lay in the bottom of the drum, to rest on top of the partition or apron, just behind the door. The details of this part of the machine are best illustrated in Figs. 4 to 10, inclusive.

lReferring to Figs. 4 to l0, which illustrate drum I which, however, is exactly like the second drum, 50 and 5l represent the heads or ends of the drum. In what may be termed the front side of the drum is a longitudinal shaft 52 lying just below the door opening in the drum and, as best shown in Fig. 9, extending through and journalled in both of the heads, On one end of the shaft, outside of the drum, is a crank or handleV 53 for turning the same.' About diametrically opposite the shaft 52 is a similar shaft 54 lying near the rear side of the drum, journalled in 'the end walls or heads of the drum, and having on one end a crank or handle 55 correspondingV to the crank or handle Y53 on the other shaft. When the drum is stopped with the door atn the rear, an operator standingbefore the machine is in position to grasp the handle 55 and turn the shaft 54. When the drum is stopped with the door in front, the operator may take hold of the handle 55 and turn the shaft 52. 'I'hese two shafts serve to retract and wind up the movable apron or to Yunwind and stretch it across the interior of the drum at will. Loose on the shaft 52 are two sprocket wheels 56, 56, whereas two other sprocket wheels 51, 51 are fixed upon the shaft 54. In the regions where the shafts 52 and 55 are located, the inner portions of the ends or heads of the drum are cut away so that the sprocket wheels at each'end of the drum lie behind the plane of the inner face of the corresponding drum head. The two heads or drum ends are cut away between these two areas of reduced thickness tov provide in each head or end a pair of separated channels or grooves 58 and 59. Corresponding to the sprocket wheels on the shafts 52 and 54 are connected together by a sprocket chain 65. The upper run of each sprocket chain lies within the corresponding groove or channel S and the lower run lies within the groove or channel 59. It should be remembered that, in speaking of the top and vbottom of the drum, I mean those parts which are at the top and bottom when the drum is in its unloading position with the door on the front side.

It will be seen that, when the shaft 58 is turned, both sprocket chains are driven, but the chains do not necessarily drive the shaft 2 because the sprocket wheels 56 are loose on that shaft. The sprocket wheels 56 are left loose on the shaft 52 so that this shaft may be employed as a roller on which to wind the flexible partition or apron 62; one end of the partition or apron being fastened to the shaft 52 and the other end to the upper runs of the sprocket chains 66. It will thus be seen that, when the shaft 55 is turned in one direction by its crank or handle, it will cause the apron to be drawn toward the same, namely, across the interior of the drum. During the unwinding of the apron from the shaft 52, the angular speed of the shaft varies relatively to the angular speed of the sprocket wheels 59 because the diameter of the roll which the apron makes on the shaft decreases as the apron is being withdrawn. When the apron is to be retracted, the shaft 52 is turned by its crank or handle, causing the apron to be wound up and the sprocket chains to be pulled along by the apron.

The flexible partition or apron may be of any suitable construction, although it preferably includes a series of slats or bars which extend entirely across the length of the drurn and ride at their ends in branches of the grooves or channels 58. In the arrangement shown, the apron consists of a stro-ng canvas belt 63 on which are laid crosswise a series of wooden slats 64 spaced only a short distance apart. The slats are glued to the belt and are further secured thereto by suitable screws 65 or other fastening means extending upwardly through the belt and into the slats. The apron is somewhat wider than the internal length of the drum and the marginal portions of the apron extend into the slots or channels 58 which are so shaped as to have comparatively narrow branch slots or passages 58a opening out of the inner faces of the drum heads. Consequently, when there is a load lying upon the apron, each of the slats that bears a part of the load acts as a beam supported at its ends. It will thus be seen that the sprocket chains do not have to carry any'load, but serve simply as a means to unwind the apron.

The free end of the apron may be fastened to the sprocket chains in any suitable Way. In the arrangement shown, one of the links 65 of the upper run of each of the sprocket chains, as best shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 10, is made much wider than the other so as to provide an upstanding part having at the upper end a laterally-directed flange 61 which underlies and is secured in any suitable manner to the endmost slat of the apron.

The grooves or channels 59 are crossed on the sides facing toward the interior of the drum by metal plates 68 which'preferably are wide enough to extend up to the slots 58a; the upper marginal portions of these plates being flanged laterally, as indicated at 69, into these latter slots and thus form wearing surfaces between the apron and the heads of the drum. It is not desirable that any movable parts, except that portion of the apron which serves as an effective partition, be exposed to the interior of the drum. I therefore have provided the drum with small box-like housings and 'l2 at the front and rear, to contain and conceal the shafts 52 and 53, respectively. These housings also contain the sprocket wheels. As best seen in Figs. 4 and 5, the metal plates 68 are long enough to extend from one of these housings to the other, so that the only obstructions in the interior of the drum, when the apron is retracted, are the comparatively small housings which, however, are smooth and present no projections of a type on which the laundry thatvis being tumbled may catch.

In Fig. 4 the drum is shown at rest and having in the bottom a mass of laundry that has been tumbled; the door being now at the rear. The apron has been drawn forward by unwinding it from its supporting shaft or roller 52. Consequently, when the drum is turned through half a revolution and brought to rest, the laundry will be found to, lie on top of the apron, as shown in Fig. 5. VI'hen, upon opening the door, which is now at the front of the machine and just above thef apron, th'e laundry may be drawn out in a substantially horizontal direction a-nd be deposited in the receiving receptacle if such a receptacle be in use.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and ai rangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims. Furthermore, while the invention is particularly applicable to machines for tumbling laundry, it may also be employed to advantage in machines in which the actual washing is done; the apron, in that case, being made of metal or other suitable materiall that will successfully withstand the fluids employed in washing. Consequently, where I refer to a tumbling machine, I intend to include, as well, washing and other analogous machines.

I claim:

1. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a pair of parallel endless chains mounted in and extending across the ends or heads of the drum, a flexible apron secured at one end toy corresponding runs of said chains, a longitudinal rotatable shaft at one side of the drum adjacent to the chains, the other end of the apron being fastened to said shaft, a handle on the shaft to Wind up the apron and cause it to pull the chains around with it, and means to pull the chains in a direction to unwind the apron and stretch it across the interior of the drum.

2. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a roller secured to one side of the drum, a flexible apron connected at one end to the roller, and means to wind the apron on and unwind it from the roller and hold it stretched across substantially the entire interior of the drum when unwound.

3. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a flexible apron as long and as wide as the interior length and diameter of the drum, and means on the drum to support the apron in two positions in one of which it is stretched across the interior of the drum and divides it lengthwise into two compartments and in the other of which itis stored at one side of the drum in a compact bundle.

4. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a rotatable roller mounted Within the drum parallel and adjacent to one of the walls of the latter, a exible apron as long and as wide asV the interior length and diameter of the drum connected at one end to said roller, and means cooperating with the roller andthe apron to cause the apron either to be wound upon the drum or to stretch across the interior of the drum and divide the latter lengthwise into two compartments.

5. In combination,k a horizontal rotatable drum, a flexible apron as long and as wide as the interior length and diameter of the drum and means on the drum to support the apron alternately in two positions, in one of which positions the apron is stretched across the length and breadth of the drum and divides it into two compartments and in the other of which positions all parts of the apron lie close to a wall of the drum and thus cause the two compartments to be united into one.

6. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, an apron as long and as wide as the interior length and diameter of the drum, said apron being of the type that may be stretched out in a flat condition or be formed into a compact bundle as long as the length of the apron, means on the drum to support said apron alternately in two positions with respect to the drum, in one of which positions the apron stretches across the interior of the drum and divides it into two compartments, and in the other of which positions the apron is stored at one side of the drum in its compact bundle form.

'7 In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a rotatable roller mounted on the drum close and parallel to a wall thereof, guides extending from the ends of the roller across the two opposed walls that meet the aforesaid wall, a exible apron wide enough to extend between and rest at its marginal portions on said guides and long enough to extend from said roller to the Wall of the drum opposite the roller, one end of the apron being connected to the roller, and means to operate the roller and the apron to cause the latter either to be stretched out along said guides or be wo-und on said roller.

8. VIn combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a exible apron as long and as wide as the interior length and diameter of the drum, and means on the drum, including a roller mounted at one side of the interio-r of the drum, to Support the` apron in two positions in one of which it is stretched across the length and width of the drum and in the other of which it is wound up on said roller.

9. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, an apron as long and as wide as the interior length and diameter of the drum, said apron being of the type that may be stretched out in a at condition or be formed into a compact bundle as long as the length of the apron, means on the drum to support said apron alternately in two positions within the drum, in one of which positions the apron stretches across the interior of the drum and divides it into two compartments, and in the other of which positions the apron is stored at one side of the drum in its compact bundle form.

1G. In combination, a horizontal rotatable drum, a rotatable roller mounted within the drum close and parallel to a wall thereof, guides extending from the ends of the roller across the two opposed walls that meet the aforesaid wall, a iiexible apron Wide enough to extend between and rest at its marginal portions on said guides and long enough to extend from said roller to the wall of the drum opposite the roller, one end of the apron being connected to the roller, and means to operate the roller and the apron to cause the latter either to be stretched out along said guides or be wound on said roller.

BERNHARD LINDBERG. 

